Copyright © 2015. Pearson Education Limited. All rights reserved.
Anatomy and
Physiology for Health
and Social Care
3
Billingham, Marilyn, et al. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1, Pearson Education Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ssfc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=474532
Created from ssfc-ebooks on 2021-06-11 09:27:36.
, UNIT 3
Getting to know your unit
Understanding basic human anatomy and physiology is essential to
understanding how the body works. You should know how the body
Assessm ent
functions normally to appreciate what happens when something goes
You will be assesse d using wrong and also how solutions, in the form of treatments, may work. This
a paper-based examin ation unit provides basic anatomy and physiology at detailed cellular level,
worth 90 marks both in body organs and of the major body systems. You will explore
how certain body systems work together to create functional units to
maintain the limits essential to life of elements such as temperature,
water content and energy supply. This is known as homeostasis. The
key features of some common disorders will be studied, together with an
introduction to epidemiology and clinical drug research.
How you will be assessed
You will be assessed by a paper-based examination, lasting for 1 hour 30 minutes,
worth 90 marks and consisting of short- and long-answer questions. The questions
will assess your understanding of cells and tissues, human anatomy and physiology of
major body systems, homeostatic mechanisms and fundamentals of medical research.
The questions will make connections between structures and functions, and provide
opportunities to analyse and evaluate information associated with life processes.
Throughout this unit you will find assessment practices that will help you prepare for
the exam. Completing each of these will give you an insight into the types of questions
that could be asked and, importantly, how to answer them.
Unit 3 has four assessment outcomes (AO), which will be included in the external
examination. Each assessment outcome also has some ‘command words’ associated
with it.
The assessment outcomes for this unit are:
AO1 Demonstrate knowledge of the structure, organisation and function of the
human body.
AO2 Demonstrate understanding of the structure, organisation and function of the
human body and relevant medical research.
Copyright © 2015. Pearson Education Limited. All rights reserved.
AO3 Analyse and evaluate information related to anatomical and physiological
systems and medical research related to disorders affecting these systems.
AO4 Make connections between common disorders and how they affect human
anatomical and physiological systems.
This table contains the areas of essential content that learners must be familiar with
prior to assessment.
Essential content
A The structure and orginisation of the human body
B The structure, function and disorders of body systems
C Medical research
150 Anatomy and Physiology for Health and Social Care
Billingham, Marilyn, et al. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1, Pearson Education Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ssfc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=474532
Created from ssfc-ebooks on 2021-06-11 09:27:36.
, UNI
Getting started
Work in small groups of between four and six people. On four large pieces of
paper write ‘cells’, ‘tissues’, ‘organs’ and ‘body systems’. On four smaller slips
of paper, each group member should write the name of a type of cell, a type of
tissue, an organ and a body system. Mix up the slips of paper and give four slips
to each person. Each group member should place their slips under the correct
label on the larger sheet of paper. Discuss the reasons for everyone’s choices
and the accuracy of their decisions.
If working on your own, you can sort the following examples into cells, tissues,
organs and body systems: heart, bone, blood, skeleton, red blood cell (or
erythrocyte), cartilage, nervous system, kidney, brain, digestive system, skin,
stomach, muscle cell.
The structure and organisation of the
A human body
This learning aim explains the basic anatomy and physiology of the human body
before moving on to look at selected body systems.
How cells work Key terms
Every individual is composed of billions of microscopic units called cells. Cells carry Cell – the basic unit of living
out vast numbers of chemical reactions and processes that make up the essence of life material.
itself. After looking at the structure and functioning of cells you will discover how cells Tissues – groups of cells
work together, managing the energy you use. joined together to carry out a
Cells rarely exist in isolation. They are usually grouped together with other similar cells, particular task.
which carry out particular tasks. Groups of cells are known as tissues. Organ – a collection of
Different types of tissues are commonly grouped together to form an organ, which tissues joined together to
carries out a particular function. carry out a specific function.
Groups of organs responsible for major tasks or functions in the body are called organ Electron microscope – a
systems, or body systems. very powerful type of
microscope, needed to see
The largest cell in the human body is the female ovum, which can just be seen with
inside cells.
the naked eye. Most cells are much smaller than this and microscopes are needed
Photomicrograph – a
Copyright © 2015. Pearson Education Limited. All rights reserved.
to view them. Ordinary light microscopes, such as those found in school or college
laboratories, are quite good for viewing tissues and organs but not very useful for photograph taken of an
looking inside individual human cells. object magnified using a
microscope.
Electron microscopes are necessary to see the detail of cell contents. These are
highly expensive instruments requiring trained operators to prepare and interpret the
specimens. It is possible to take photographsof objects magnified using a microscope
(photomicrographs) so that other people can use them, and also diagrams made
from them, instead.
Function and structure of cells
Details of the interior of a cell are often referred to as the ultrastructure of the cell
(‘ultra’ means ‘beyond what is considered normal’). This is because they can only be
seen with immense magnification. Before the electron microscope was developed,
Billingham, Marilyn, et al. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1, Pearson Education Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ssfc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=474532
Created from ssfc-ebooks on 2021-06-11 09:27:36.
, the inside of a cell was considered to be a granular sort of ‘soup’, but it is now known
that the ultrastructure is highly organised and composed of many different bodies that
carry out their own functions.
Key terms
Do you remember the definition of an organ? The very tiny bodies inside a cell
Organelle – a tiny body are known as organelles because they have different physical (and chemical)
inside a cell, which carries out compositions and carry out their own functions.
its own functions.
Although you will learn about a typical human cell, there are actually lots of different
Protoplasm – means ‘first types of cells each with their own characteristics. The ‘typical cell’ exists only for study
material’, refers to anything purposes and has no specialisation. When studying actual cells in the body, you must
inside the cell boundary. adapt your knowledge to the specific type of cell being considered. For example, a
Cytoplasm – ‘cell material’, mature red blood cell does not have a nucleus, so any description of the ultrastructure
refers to anything inside the of a red blood cell would not include the nucleus.
cell boundary and outside the
nucleus. The living material that makes up whole cells is called protoplasm, and is subdivided
into the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
Nucleus – the central part of
the cell, which is enclosed in Under a light microscope cytoplasm appears granular with no distinct features.
a membrane and is usually The cytoplasm is the site where most complex chemical reactions occur, mainly
darker than the rest of the cell directed by the nucleus. The nucleus, which is also responsible for inherited
because it contains genetic characteristics can be seen as a dark body, usually centrally placed. Both the whole
material. cell and the nucleus are surrounded by a membrane, which appears as a single line
(see Figure 3.1).
Plasma (cell) Cytoplasm
membrane
Nuclear
membrane
Nucleolus
Nucleus
▸▸ Figure 3.1 Diagram of a cell viewed with a light microscope
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Cell ultrastructure is so complex and highly organised that it has its own branch of
science – cytology, the study of cells. In this unit you will learn about the structure and
functions of the cell membrane, the organelles in the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
Cell membrane
The electron microscope shows the cell membrane to be a phospho-lipid-protein
bilayer. The lipids are small, fatty molecules in two layers (bilayer), with larger protein
molecules inserted at intervals partly or completely through the bilayer. The lipid
molecules are phospholipids. The phosphate head is water soluble and the two lipid
chains are insoluble in water. This is why the two layers align themselves, with the
lipid chains facing one another. The fluid surrounding cells (called tissue fluid) and the
cytoplasm are both watery environments next to the phosphate heads (see Figure 3.2).
152 Anatomy and Physiology for Health and Social Care
Billingham, Marilyn, et al. BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1, Pearson Education Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ssfc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=474532
Created from ssfc-ebooks on 2021-06-11 09:27:36.
